David A. Thompson founded TEC Equipment in 1976. During those early days in Portland, TEC Equipment, whose business was buying and selling used trucks and trailers, was known as Thompson Equipment Company. Today, with 25 facilities in 21 cities, TEC Equipment owns all the Volvo & Mack Truck franchises in Oregon, Washington, Nevada and California (except Sacramento), making TEC the largest multi-point Volvo, Mack, and GMC Truck dealership group in the United States, and 5th largest of all U.S. truck dealers.
TEC’s expansion from a single used truck center to 22 franchised dealerships and three used truck centers and 1,000 employees has not followed a traditional path. Today David and his family retain sole ownership of the enterprise, which enjoyed a 53 percent jump in revenue, to $430 million, in the fiscal year ended May ‘13, up from $280 million in fiscal 2012. David and Ann’s sons, David Oliver, Christopher, and William each play an active role in the success of the company.
In this third program of the Family Business Study Group Series, we heard from David Thompson, CEO of TEC Equipment, Inc., and each of his sons about how his focused strategy has yielded over 30 years of profitability, market share growth, and financial stability and the planning that has supported this growth.